


The Bones Don't Lie

by Stormysongbird



Series: (re)Written!Verse [13]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Gen, Magic, Pre-Series, bitty janna, bone casting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:56:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormysongbird/pseuds/Stormysongbird
Summary: The bones tell the future. And the future is big and wide and scary. Or the times the future utterly confused Jenny Calendar.





	The Bones Don't Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Since magic is an important theme in Buffy, most of the characters have taken part in some kind of magic in some way or another. And Jenny is a bone caster. So it stands to reason before big moments in her life she tries to cast the bones. Here is her first time...

With hands that weren’t shaking, totally steady here, Janna lit her lotus scented incense and anointed her honeysuckle candles. They were supposed to be centering and helping her open her spiritual eyes. Janna wasn’t so sure but it did smell nice, they should make a soap or shampoo out of it. Her sisters were out at the vendor’s market with her parents so Janna wanted some time alone to...see what was coming next.

The Elder Woman had called her in last night.

Her father and three of her uncles had been there as well. She should have seen it coming. With high school graduation coming up and her acceptance to a couple of colleges, they probably wanted to convince her to stay. Her sister Chastity’s incoming wedding had probably spurred them on. Trying to get her to marry Ivan and have lots of little gypsies. Well, she had known Ivan since they were four and he used to throw rocks at passing cars. And stomp on bugs. And pull her hair. No way she was marrying him. And Janna had walked into that dim and smoky living room with the exact intent of telling everyone that. Or at least thinking it very hard. Well maybe she could stall enough that they could avoid the whole conversation.

Instead, the old woman had served them all tea and pulled out an old and weathered set of tarot cards. Janna had drunk it all down and let everyone see the dregs. So they were trying to figure out WHEN she would marry him? The tea had been overly sweet and the smoke had made her eyes water. The Elder Woman had taken Janna’s hand in both of hers and murmured blessings. Now the teenager was officially confused. She looked to her Uncle Enyos but he only sharply inclined his gear back to the Elder Woman. ‘Pay attention’ his eyes had scolded. Janna ducked her head respectfully. Then her father guided her the deck of tarot cards. Janna had pulled three and set them down on the battered coffee table.

Constancy.

Hope.

The Ecclesiastic.

Janna had no idea what that meant to any of them, but it made the room’s collective eyebrows raise. Then her father and uncle smiled.

That was when it all came out. Her new destiny. The vampire, the one who had killed Kezia, the one who had been cursed with a soul. The one who was supposed to suffer until the end of time. She was going to watch him, to make sure that suffering was eternal. Janna had not been expecting that. She wouldn't have to get married and resign herself to the same life as her sisters. She would be able to do something different. This was like that poem she'd had to read in English class. She was taking the road less traveled. And while that was exciting it was also terrifying. So Janna had decided to try to tell her own fortune.

Janna took a few more deep breaths of the scent and, with her eyes closed, untied the fabric and let her “bones” fall to the floor.

She didn’t look. She didn’t want to. This was her destiny, her life, and now these people, she reminded herself that they were her family, and her loyalty was to them. But they were going to tell her where to go and how to live for the rest of her life, nothing would be hers anymore. She was going to follow a monster wherever he went and possibly never see her family again. Her life would never ever be hers. It would be theirs. And his.

On the other hand...

She would be able to leave the fold. She would be able to go to college, to go to far away places and meet interesting people. She would be able to see and learn about all the things she had only heard about online. This was the chance to become someone else, to be more than just the "gypsy girl". A flicker of something that could be considered hope sparked in her chest.

Opening her eyes Janna looked down.

Her bones had fallen over the chart in a haphazard way. Of course her ancestors had to make it hard for her. Janna muttered a curse under her breath, then listened to make sure her mother hadn't heard her. Ancestors were to be revered and respected. Besides, it might make her reading better if she was nice. Janna ducked her head in apology. Tucking her hair back she turned her attention back to the bones. There were all kinds of different names for the bones and different names for the different sections but Janna couldn't remember all of them. And her mother had always said that you were supposed to trust the magicks and that you would see what the universe wanted to know. Janna took that to mean that she didn't need to look at any books.

The first thing she noticed was three bones that had fallen in front of her and settled themselves in random locations. When reading bones you could never take things literally, you had to look closer for the deeper meaning. They kind of looked like a triangle. Janna grabbed the notebook that she used to write the translations. Triangle....triangle... A downward triangle represented a shrinking influence. Her family's influence over her? Greater influence over her own life? Was something coming to replace it? Frustrated Janna blew her hair out of her eyes. She scanned the rest of the bones to try to see which ones had fallen where, and what it all meant. To try to get her mind to be serene and calm and just FOCUS! To let the magicks flow in and the universe speak to her. She needed answers. Janna didn't like having no answers. That was how it had been her whole life. The books that were up on high shelves and in languages she didn't know. The conversations had by her family behind closed and locked doors. Answers were always something someone else had. That was probably why Janna liked surfing the web so much. Using the old beaten up computer to go far beyond where she was expected to. This was where the answers were. This was where she had power. This was where she was herself.

She had wanted to know more, more than the tea dregs and the battered tarot cards could tell her. More than she would ever get from her family. But Janna had forgotten the number one rule. Fortune telling never gave you straight answers. Not real fortune telling anyway. It was all up to interpretation. She had asked for too much and the universe had rewarded her with incomprehensible jibberish. Grumbling she gathered the bones up, making sure to thank them like her mother had told her to. 

Guess the only way Janna would know her future was to live it.


End file.
